SummarySacred Gold and Storm Silver are the fourth set of hacks/edits I've done now; others you might be familiar with are Pokémon Fire Red Omega, Pokémon Spirit Gold, and for those of you native to GBAtemp, Pokémon Blaze Black and Volt White. Given that it's one of my hacks, it has a pretty similar style in the sense that all Pokémon are available, there's an increased difficulty curve, there are (optional) changes to Pokémon to make some of them better etcetera. You may wonder why I've chosen to make another HG/SS hack when I've done Spirit Gold previously; the answer to this question is that Spirit Gold never really took full advantage of the tools available for DS games, particularly in terms of scripting. Compared to Spirit Gold, Sacred Gold and Storm Silver are full of new scripted events and other aesthetic changes to make it both full of content and a pleasure to look at.

Changes to the GamesWhile the base of the game is the same (e.g. the maps, the storyline, the general order of main events) the two hacks still manage to bring a new series of features to the table to spice up the gameplay experience, including:

493 Pokémon (i.e. all Pokémon available in the fourth generation) can be obtained somehow within the game. Legendaries are somewhat restricted, but otherwise you can build your team with pretty much anything you want. Almost all Pokémon are available prior to the first round of the Elite Four! In addition, you also receive the National Dex the moment you get the Pokédex, making it that much easier to track what you have and haven't caught. There are some minor changes in Wild encounters between Sacred Gold and Storm Silver, but all 493 are available in both.

Trainers have received new rosters to tie in with the greater variety of Pokémon available (explained by a 'migration wave' to the regions). This means you'll be battling a much larger variety of Pokémon than you'll see previously. Gym Leaders and other important trainers in particular have received a large boost to their difficulty, so get ready to take on some hard fights! As with the rest of my hacks, Gym Leaders, Elite Four members etcetera all use six Pokémon in each fight. New Trainer battles have also been added where appropriate; examples include the option to battle Ethan/Lyra, Cynthia and Steven.

The data of a lot of Pokémon has been changed; this can mean just extra level-up moves, but features such as abilities, experience rates, TM compatibility and even types might be changed. Most of these are carried over from Blaze Black & Volt White, but the hack has brought some new ideas to the table. For those of you who prefer a purer Pokémon experience, the 'Classic' version offered has these Pokémon edits removed.

A small amount of attack moves have also been edited. All moves that were given some sort of change in Black & White have had the same change applied to them in Sacred Gold & Storm Silver where possible, as well as some additional edits to make Cut, Strength and Rock Smash more useful than their previous counterparts. A large amount of Pokémon have been given extra level-up moves in some form to make them easier to raise.

Edits to evolutions mean Sacred Gold and Storm Silver are self-contained (i.e. you do not need to trade to obtain all the Pokémon). In most cases, this simply turns the item needed for evolution by trade into a usable item much like an evolution stone, though for some cases where evolution is either awkward or impossible in HG/SS (e.g. Leafeon, Glaceon, Magneton, Nosepass...) some new items have been added; this keeps consistency with previous items.

The availability of items has been changed quite wildly in general; all evolution items and TMs are now available at least once prior to the first round of the Elite Four, meaning you can shape your team up quite well for what's not even the final challenge in the game!

On that note, some things have been changed just to make things in the game a lot more convenient. Examples include an EXP Share available in Violet City, the removal of most unnecessary Cut trees and other annoying HM moments, and the addition of buyable evolution stones to some of the shops around the regions. The numbers of Gym Leaders are also now much easier to obtain--they're given to you directly after the battle! Coins can also now be purchased from the Goldenrod Game Corner.

A wide variety of scripted events have been both added and edited. The levels of most event Pokémon that already existed are now raised, but there are lots of new events for the purpose of giving you new Pokémon, items or TMs. Notables include an Eevee given to you by Cynthia extremely early in the game, the addition of a Teleport system in the Elite Four to let you challenge them in any order á la Black & White, a Team Rocket takeover of Route 47 and the Safari Zone and a Shellder and Cloyster siege in Fuchsia City. Yes, you read that right. Every newly added legendary has also had some sort of script concocted for it, so you won't be just finding them in the wild as you did with Blaze Black and Volt White. The Game Corner's prizes have also been edited; you can get a Porygon in Goldenrod City, if you so choose.

Trades within the game have also been both edited and shifted around to make getting some hard-to-place Pokémon a bit more convenient. Examples include the ability to trade for Pokémon such as Gligar, Skarmory, Beldum and Smoochum. They even have a move ordinarily learned by TM, or not at all!

Some small aesthetical edits have been made, e.g. Karen has a new background for her battle and Lance now uses Cynthia's background from DPPt instead of his own. Some attempt has also been made at engaging the world more in its inter-regional Pokémon change by having Hoenn and Sinnoh overworld sprites appear in various places. Some DP trainers also make an appearance, though this was a late feature and has yet to be fully fleshed out due to time constraints. There's also a fairly hefty addition of Black & White sprites to the table, particularly for Hoenn Pokémon. The main Pokémon also now have seals attached to give them a more personalised appearance. Finally, text has been edited such that all Pokémon names are decapitalised (so Pidgeotto rather than PIDGEOTTO, for instance.) There's also been one or two bits of dialogue that have been changed back to their GSC version.

Some extra bits of 'story' have been added, though it's admittedly very little and was also a late addition so it's not entirely fleshed out yet, but it focuses on the idea of a 'Legendary Trainer' who can meet the 'creator' and the hunting down of the Plate items. Might be something to focus on in a later release.

The game has had a variety of blockades added to it to increase the linearity of the story. While this may sound odd/bad, it serves as a way to increase the level curve of Johto, which in the original games was quite poor. Basically this means you're forced to go to Cianwood first instead of Mahogany, and the Kanto region also forces you to take a certain route to give it more of an 'objective'.

Screenshots of the ChangesOpen the spoiler tag below to see a variety of screenshots from different points in the game...

WARNING! Spoilers inside!

Credits:: afcmark15, bossdresser, Joodicator and other friends: For contributing ideas to the hack, as well as in some cases helping to playtest the thing (albeit, not much, but it's something!):: Project Pokémon Forums: Again for any help they gave in relation to HG/SS problems, either to myself directly or to other people.:: Alpha and SCV: Though it hasn't been updated in a while, PPRE is the single most important thing needed to create this hack. Very much appreciated.:: KazoWAR: His tutorial on inserting sprites in HG/SS was important in order to get that Steven sprite in.:: Dewgong/Frostbite: For the Steven trainer sprite added to the game.:: Various GBAtemp / YouTube Members: For your continued support and ideas during the production of SG/SS.:: Jhon 591 of Romulation: For his significantly improved HG/SS anti piracy patch which means you guys can play this game on no$gba WITHOUT it crashing every five seconds!:: Jensei: For speeding quite fast through the game and informing me of bugs on the initial releases. Can't say it looks good on me, but it helped!:: Early Players: I can't thank you enough for helping out with all the bugs, and apologies for making you download things so many times!

Tools UsedThe main tool used in order to produce this hack was PPRE, with its Pokémon editing, script editing, overworld editing and Trainer editing features. Other tools included the ever trusty crystaltile2, some moments from Cygnus Hex Editor, and the use of programs such as Tile Molester for the one bit of sprite work I did.

Bugs, Errors & Possible Changes

WARNING! Spoilers inside!

A strikeout (example) represents that the bug has been fixed and will be eliminated in the next version release.

WARNING! Spoilers inside!

WARNING! Spoilers inside!

- Possible black screen and/or white screens from various events around the Safari Zone area. I'm unsure on the specifics of this one, but save often just in case. This isn't a consistent bug so it's difficult to test and fix.- One of the battles on Route 47 can be activated from a weird position.- The MooMoo Milk dialogue is messed up.- Some events such as the Icicle Plate and Steven in Vermilion don't seem to work on R4?- The Mew event freezes on some flash cards.- Garchomp are missing their Rough Skin ability.- Claydol doesn't actually learn Fly.- There will be Lyra/Ethan overworld doubles if you lose against her/him in Goldenrod.- One particular item ball causes you to gain ~450 Full Heals.- There is a typo with the Odd Keystone's description.- Most 30% encounters with the Super Rod for some reason produce a Missingno. as opposed to what Pokémon should be available. This occurs due to missing encounters for the 30% slot at Night!- The important item document says Silver Wind is in Route 39; it's actually Route 38.- The names for the Gentleman/Socialite on Route 34 haven't stuck.- Double trainer battle in Route 13 has a messed up name.- Steven will not acknowledge the Lati event after capturing Regigigas regardless of the Lati event's progress.- The Celebi event involving your rival/Giovanni etc will result in a freeze when it reaches Tohjo Falls.- Cynthia may refuse to give you the Sinnoh starter if you talk to her after getting the Earth Badge.- Scizor learns Night Shade instead of Night Slash.- Flags have a tendency to reset for some unknown reason. This doesn't always trigger and it's completely unknown why it occurs.- Ledyba's Attack and Special Attack haven't been swapped as the document says.- Prof. Oak's dialogue ignores Eevee being at the front of your party.- Mantyke refuses to evolve by the Remoraid method.- Feebas won't stop trying to evolve each level.- Route 40 super rod encounters are incorrect.- Vespiquen lacks its new Intimidate ability.- Meganium is missing Natural Cure.- Golbat does not have Anticipation.- Illumise isn't Bug/Electric even in the complete versions.

- I'm considering allowing you to access Route 38 and Route 39 again before you defeat Morty. Lowers the levels a tiny bit, though...- Probably need to make Corsola more common somewhere because of the Super Rod glitch.

Changelog

WARNING! Spoilers inside!

Version 1.0.5 - 1st June 2012- The Electirizer can now only be picked up once.- Drain Punch's PP has been increased to 10.- The moves of Misty's Starmie in her rematch have been corrected.- Gible now appears correctly when using the Pastoral Sound in Union Cave 1F.- Cameron pictures in the Ruins of Alph and Route 1 should now be safe.- The woman in the fan club next to the president no longer causes a ghost Steven to appear.- The red teleporter next to Sabrina now works.- You must now do the Regi event before Cynthia will acknowledge the Red Chain.- There has been some correction to Wild Pokémon on Routes 35 and 36.- Text errors to do with the Riolu egg event and some trades have been corrected.- The Unown gifts should now work for any amount of Unown greater than or equal to the lower bound of the intervals.- All of the trades should now work correctly.- Losing against Archer at the Safari Gate no longer results in a freeze.- The Horsea in Blackthorn's Pokemon Center will now talk.- The Rotom forms now have their types from Black & White.- Kingler now learns Hammer Arm at Level 28.- Ninetales can now actually get Drought as a second ability.- Strength has been taken up to 75 power.- Stealth Rock is now found as an item ball in Mt. Mortar.- Dusk Balls are once again purchasable in the Safari Zone Gate.- Additions/relevant changes have been made to the Important Item, Pokemon Changes, Action Replay and Special Event documents.

Version 1.0.4 - 27th May 2012- Strength now actually deals damage in addition to the Attack reduction effect.- You can now give the Mail to the Route 31 guy without a freeze.- Chinchou and Lanturn can now actually get Water Absorb.- Sacred Gold now has its own exclusives in the Wild list.- The King's Rock, DeepSeaTooth, DeepSeaScale and Metal Coat will now evolve things correctly.- You can now walk in front of the Mahogany Town guy safely.- You can now receive an Egg from Primo safely.- The King's Rock has been moved to the main floor of Slowpoke Well as opposed to the basement.

Version 1.0.3 - 26th May, 2012Further fixes due to a flag error within the Safari Zone. Also adds Bulk Up Kingler.

Version 1.02 - 26th May, 2012 (Updated again shortly after to the same version number.)Problem with some flags fixed that meant events weren't disabled/enabled correctly for certain players. This changes the flag setting to ALWAYS occur, but for people who are ahead, do not wish to restart their save files and are finding themselves unable to get Surf due to a dance theater blockade, download this version and head to Olivine Pokemon Center and talk to a woman with blue hair to sort your problems out.

If you are starting a New Game, then I would update to this version. If you are on 1.0.1 and you aren't finding your way into the dance theater blocked, then there's no immediate need to update to the next version. Additionally some small documentation changes have been added since I forgot to list a couple items.

Version 1.0.1 - 26th May, 2012Game-breaking freeze bug in Olivine City fixed. The rival coming out of the gym would initially freeze the game.Some extra bits added to to the documents.

Version 1.0.0 - 25th May, 2012Initial release.

Version ClarificationThere are two options for players of Sacred Gold & Storm Silver; the Complete version or the Classic version.

The Complete version includes every single change I have made to the game. It's the same idea as BB/VW's Full version.The Classic version includes most changes but excludes any changes made directly to Pokémon (stats, types, TM compatibility, level up move changes etc). It's the same idea as BB/VW's Clean version.

Download LinksThe patch includes the anti piracy patch already, so you will need to use a clean Heart Gold or Soul Silver ROM to get these to work. The HGSS rom should be American.

You've put so much work into this project.. It's really amazing. Great, great job! I, too, was anxiously awaiting this release! I love it! Though at this moment I don't even have the time to work on my own project, I definitely have to try this out one time. Again, amazing job. I also really like the Emerald Style Double Battles! I just like them for no particular reason, hehe.

Playing Sacred Gold. One thing I noticed already, Cyndaquil still has the Blaze ability, documentation says it has Flash Fire. Not sure about the other starters but maybe they aren't working right either.

Unless I'm missunderstanding and it's ONLY for the caught ones, while starters remain the same.

Playing Sacred Gold. One thing I noticed already, Cyndaquil still has the Blaze ability, documentation says it has Flash Fire. Not sure about the other starters but maybe they aren't working right either.

Unless I'm missunderstanding and it's ONLY for the caught ones, while starters remain the same.

When the documentation lists +Flash Fire ability it just means that ability has been added, meaning you now have the option of getting Blaze (it's pre-existing ability) OR Flash Fire, not just Flash Fire.

Thanks Dray for releasing this. I absolutely love the starter events you added, now I can get my Treecko easily